University of Colorado Buffaloes Football

Special teams duo has developed friendship

Colorado teammates Will Oliver, left, and Darragh O'Neill weren't always the best of friends because of their different backgrounds and competitive natures. (Cliff Grassmick / Daily Camera)

On Sunday, Darragh O'Neill and Will Oliver played golf together.

"That is something we would have never done (two years ago)," O'Neill said.

Two of the most cordial players to wear a Colorado uniform over the past few years, O'Neill and Oliver didn't get along early in their careers. Yet, as the starting punter and kicker enter their senior years, they have developed a friendship off the field and a better special teams unit on the field.

"It's changed massively, probably as much as any relationship could change," O'Neill said of his relationship with Oliver.

O'Neill and Oliver both joined the football team in 2011, but their paths to CU were vastly different.

Oliver was a Southern California kid, a multi-sport star who was viewed as one of the top prep kickers in the country in 2010. CU offered him a scholarship and he made the journey to Boulder.

O'Neill, on the other hand, was born in Ireland and moved to the United States as a toddler. He, too, was a multi-sport athlete, but didn't play football at Boulder's Fairview High School. When Oliver was a senior in high school, O'Neill was a freshman at CU, but not playing football. He decided to walk-on to the team in 2011.

"We obviously came from very different backgrounds," Oliver said. "That made it tough in the beginning."

Advertisement

Despite their different backgrounds, they both made their mark early. The Buffs broke training camp in 2011 with Oliver as the starting kicker and O'Neill as the starting punter. They've held those jobs ever since.

CU has had a rough road the last three years, but O'Neill and Oliver have been two bright spots.

Oliver ranks eighth in CU history in scoring (189 points) and has a good chance to vault to No. 2 before he leaves. In his career, Oliver has made 34 of 48 field goals (70.8 percent) and 87 of 89 extra points.

O'Neill, meanwhile, has the ninth-best punting average in program history, at 42.32 yards per punt. With 9,132 career punting yards, he's just 13 yards shy of all-time leader John Torp. More importantly, he's already the program leader for career punts inside the 20 (68) and inside the 10 (25).

"This year, we have really talented legs in the unit," special teams coach Toby Neinas said. "To be able to work with those guys in their senior year is a privilege."

Although Oliver and O'Neill have always had different jobs to do on the field, their competitiveness — on and off the field — kept them from becoming friends.

"We butted heads," Oliver said. "We both have pretty strong personalities. It was never in a really negative way, but there was always tension."

Then, a year ago, CU coaches decided to add holding duties to O'Neill's list. Now, all of a sudden, O'Neill and Oliver had to work together.

"When he started holding for me, it was a way for us to have a relationship that we were both really on the same team, as opposed to competing," Oliver said. "It's really helped that we're sort of now in a role together where if he's successful, I'm successful, and we both want the same result on the same play."

Quickly, the two learned to get along and actually enjoy being around each other.

"Practice used to be such a drag, and so long," O'Neill said. "Now you're just out there with a couple of buddies, just kicking around and having a lot more fun.

"It's changed a lot and we really understand each other now. It's been really good the last year."

With O'Neill and Oliver developing a friendship, the entire group of kickers has been impacted, Neinas said.

"Obviously the group is going to follow the leadership of Darragh and Will," he said. "I think it's made (the energy) better and it's made it better for the younger guys because it creates a culture of positive energy."

That positive energy has O'Neill and Oliver hoping for big things this year. The Buffs joke that the team needs O'Neill to do less and Oliver to do more. That would mean fewer punts and more points on the boards.

Regardless of how the season plays out, O'Neill and Oliver will work to make each other as successful as possible.

"Looking back, we haven't had bad careers," Oliver said. "It's been sort of a bumpy, but good, ride. I think it's set up perfectly to go out this year, when we're trying to turn this ship, and really focus."

Billionaires, entertainers and athletes alike announced their intentions to pursue the Los Angeles Clippers with varying degrees of seriousness Wednesday, proving the longtime losers will be quite a prize if the NBA is able to wrest control of the team away from Donald Sterling after his lifetime ban for racist remarks. Full Story

Louie, who (like Louis) is a New York comic and a divorced father of two daughters, knows struggle and angst and cloudy wonderment. He views life through eyes with a stricken look, dwelling in a state of comfortable dread. Full Story